Perrier Recalls Its Water in U.S. After Benzene Is Found in Bottles

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The company that made bottled mineral water chic is voluntarily recalling its entire inventory of Perrier from store shelves throughout the United States after tests showed the presence of the chemical benzene in a small sample of bottles.

The impurity was discovered in North Carolina by county officials who so prized the purity of Perrier that they used it as a standard in tests of other water supplies.

The Food and Drug Administration said it is testing supplies in California and other states. In a written statement issued last night, Ronald V. Davis, president of the Perrier Group of America Inc., said there was no significant health risk to the public. But the statement did not go into the details of the recall, how it would work, the number of bottles to be recalled and the impact on a company that has built its success on its product's image of purity and stylishness.

William M. Grigg, a spokesman for the Food and Drug Administration, said his agency's Hazard Evaluation Board had collected samples of Perrier and found no immediate risk to the public from the benzene in the water.

''At these levels there is no immediate hazard,'' he said. ''The hazard would be that over many years, if you consumed about 16 fluid ounces a day, your lifetime risk of cancer might increase by one in a million, which we consider a negligible risk. You don't have to be concerned if you just had a bottle of Perrier.''

Mr. Grigg said the authorities had not determined the source of the benzene contamination, ''but North Carolina thinks this is a new problem.''

The North Carolina Health Department found the traces in bottles of Perrier in the last few days. After the state department notified the F.D.A., the Federal agency tested bottles in North Carolina and Georgia and confirmed the state's findings. Mr. Grigg said tests found that the amount of benzene contamination ranged from 12.3 to 19.9 parts per billion. The Federal Environmental Protection Agency has established a maximum contamination level of 5 parts per billion of benzene for public drinking water supplies.

Dr. Ronald H. Levine, the state health director in North Carolina, said in a telephone interview from Raleigh that the benzene was first detected in Charlotte by the Mecklenburg County Environmental Health Department.

''They use Perrier water as their standard in their lab for testing other water,'' he said. He added that health officials started having trouble in the laboratory and specialists there concluded the problem was with the standard.

The county authorities notified state officials, who confirmed the presence of benzene.

Bottled in 1989

''It was in a number of different lots that were bottled in 1989,'' Dr. Levine said.

State officials reported their findings to the F.D.A. and the company, and issued a statement suggesting that the public not consume the product.

Perrier water, sold in little pear-shaped green bottles, is drawn from a natural underground mineral spring in Vergeze, France, and is bottled only at the source. The company's statement said the French Ministry of Health had certified that there was no contamination at the spring.

The company said the search for the source of contamination is focusing on the packaging and distribution process. Perrier is conducting an extensive internal investigation and is cooperating with Federal and state officials, the statement said.

Cancer in Animals

Benzene, a natural component of crude oil, has been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals and is believed to do the same in humans.

Reporters' telephone calls last night to the Perrier company and to Mr. Davis's home were not answered. The statement said Perrier had scheduled a news conference in Old Greenwich, Conn., today to discuss the recall.

What impact the recall will have on user patterns and on Perrier itself was unclear last night.

Told of Perrier's action, Sirio Maccioni, owner of Le Cirque restaurant in Manhattan, said: ''Oh, my God. Oh, my God.'' Then, after a pause, he added, ''Well, we have a lot of other water, the Saratoga, the San Pellegrino.''

'Maybe We'll Sell Some Wine'

Another restaurant owner, Andre Soltner, of Lutece in Manhattan, said, ''Oh, my God.'' Then he paused and added, ''Maybe we'll sell some wine now.'' Mr. Soltner said Perrier consumption was up twentyfold in his restaurant over the last five years.

At Washington Square Bar and Grill in San Francisco, a bartender, Alan Sharf, said he had not heard that Perrier was being recalled, but he did not think a recall would affect business there..

''It is pretty popular,'' said Mr. Sharf, ''but this being California, we have our local water, so it won't affect our business. It's pretty easily replaced.'' A bartender at Pierre au Tunnel, a French restaurant in midtown Manhattan, said: ''People think it's prestigious; it's an 'in' thing. We sell a lot of it.''

''To me I think it's the biggest hype since the Beatles,'' said the bartender, who would give only his first name, Alan.

A man who answered the telephone at the D'Agostino Supermarket at 74th Street and Broadway in Manhattan early this morning said that he had not heard of the recall and that Perrier was selling well. ''People buy it by the case,'' he said.

Jesse Meyers, publisher of Beverage Digest, a newsletter for the soft drink industry, said, ''Perrier is the largest mineral water producer in the world and has for many years set worldwide standards in quality and production levels.''

'A Responsible Public Citizen'

Mr. Meyers said he doubted that the withdrawal would have any long-term effect on Perrier's sales and financial health. ''I think the American consumer is sharp enough to realize this is a singular occasion,'' he said. ''I'm sure that by taking this action, Perrier is looking to continue its reputation in the marketplace as being a responsible public citizen and to resume its normal course of business after this is over.''

B. William Deal, executive vice president of the International Bottled Water Association, a trade group based in Alexandria, Va., said, ''The Perrier-type products are being used as an alternative to soft drinks and alcohol.''

But he said he did not think the recall would adversely affect the bottled water market in general.

''It sounds like a very limited area,'' Mr. Deal said.

A version of this article appears in print on , Section 1, Page 1 of the National edition with the headline: Perrier Recalls Its Water in U.S. After Benzene Is Found in Bottles. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe